Chapter 18 – The Shadow Monarch
The light of the vestige realm felt distant and dreamlike around Izuku. Nana still held him gently, one hand rubbing slow circles on his back as his sobs gradually quieted. The other past users of One For All stood in respectful silence, their glowing silhouettes watching with heavy concern.
Izuku pulled back just enough to look up at the towering figure who had spoken — the being wrapped in living darkness and crackling purple energy. (Ashborn. The Shadow Monarch.)
His voice was still raw when he asked the question burning in his chest.
"What… what did you mean?" Izuku whispered, wiping at the black tears still streaking down his face. "The power you gave me…?"
Ashborn's glowing eyes softened slightly. His presence was overwhelming, yet there was a strange, ancient gentleness in the way he regarded the boy.
"I granted you an extremely small portion of my power as the Shadow Monarch," Ashborn explained, voice deep and resonant, echoing through the entire realm. "You were my contingency. A backup plan. In case my chosen successor, Sung Jin-Woo, failed to inherit the full mantle… the rest of my power would have naturally transferred to you. But that is no longer necessary… "
Izuku's eyes widened.
He took a shaky step back, shadows flickering unsteadily around his feet. His mind raced, panic spiking again.
"Are You… threatening me?" he asked, voice cracking. "If I don't do what you want, you'll take it all back? You'll—"
Ashborn quickly raised a massive hand, cutting him off.
He coughed once, the sound surprisingly embarrassed for such a regal being.
"Ah… that came out wrong," Ashborn admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with one enormous hand. The purple energy around him dimmed slightly, almost sheepish. "My apologies, young one. I did not mean it as a threat."
He lowered his hand and continued more carefully.
"My chosen successor, Jin-Woo, has succeeded. He is fully ready to inherit the mantle of Shadow Monarch. Therefore, this shard of myself that resides within you is no longer needed here."
Izuku's breath caught.
Ashborn's glowing eyes met his directly.
"I will be taking back the power you have yet to access and rejoining my main self, so that Jin-Woo may wield the complete strength of the Shadow Monarch. However," he added, voice softening, "I will leave behind what you have already gained access to."
He gestured with one hand, and faint images of shadow constructs flickered in the air between them.
"Shadow Extraction… and your own unique ability — Shadow Creation. That power was born from the mixing of your original quirk and the fragment of mine. It belongs to you now. It is yours to keep."
Izuku stood there, stunned, the weight of the words settled over him.
The realm fell into a heavy, thoughtful silence.
He took a shaky breath and raised a hand.
"Wait… can you wait a moment?" he asked, voice hoarse but steady enough.
Ashborn inclined his massive head slightly, waiting.
Izuku swallowed hard, eyes flicking between Ashborn and the glowing silhouettes of the other One For All users.
"Where did Igris come from then? Because I know I didn't make him like I did Kaelros " he asked first. "And… How was I able to take that form back at the USJ? The one with the cloak and the crown… it felt like I was whole for once, But I didn't know I wasn't beforehand."
Ashborn's glowing purple eyes softened with understanding. He spoke slowly, his deep voice echoing through the realm like distant thunder.
"When you inherited One For All," he began, "your existing quirk along with the fragment of my power that had already merged with your Quirk fought it due to seeing it as a foreign invader. But you managed to pacify it and lead it down the path of cooperation with OFA. So it over time tried to synchronize all three forces together. The combination created an overwhelming surge of energy that conflicted. There was too much power with nowhere to go."
Ashborn gestured with one enormous hand, and faint images of Igris flickered in the air between them.
"So I created an outlet. I made a copy of one of my most loyal subordinates — Igris — and entrusted him to you. He serves as a vessel and a stabilizer for that excess power."
Izuku's eyes widened slightly as he absorbed the explanation.
"As for the form you took during the battle at the USJ," Ashborn continued, "that was a representation of all three of your powers working at their fullest and in perfect harmony. The cloak, the crown, the overwhelming presence, it is the closest thing to the true form of the Shadow Monarch that your body and soul could have manifested in that moment."
Ashborn's tone grew slightly gruff, almost annoyed.
"However… the drawback is significant. Because the synchronization was incomplete and because of your recklessness, you shaved off at least twenty years of your lifespan."
He grumbled under his breath, the sound low and irritated.
"I had worked so hard to fix that after you inherited One For All… which also decreased your lifespan. And yet here we are…. again."
Izuku's face paled, but before he could spiral, Ashborn quickly continued.
"But you honestly do not need to worry about that anymore," he said firmly. "Your body is currently rewriting itself. The way it is now, the damage is being corrected and compensated for."
Izuku blinked, confusion clear on his face.
"What… what do you mean?" he asked, voice small. "Rewriting itself how?"
Ashborn's glowing eyes met his directly, calm and certain.
"The black blood. The shadows. The fusion of One For All and my power. Your body is no longer entirely human. It is becoming something more, something capable of sustaining the power you now carry."
Izuku stared at Ashborn, still trying to wrap his mind around everything he had just heard. His voice came out small and uncertain.
"So… my body is changing? Because of all this power?"
Ashborn nodded slowly, the purple energy around him pulsing gently like a calm heartbeat.
"Yes. But it is not becoming that of a Monarch, nor anything even closely related to my kind," he said, his deep voice steady and measured. "It is transforming under the guidance, more like a blueprint really, that your original quirk had."
He gestured with one massive hand, and faint, ethereal images flickered in the air between them — silhouettes of shadow constructs, the way Izuku's power had always manifested and manipulated the shadows , even before One For All.
"Think of it this way," Ashborn continued. "Your body was always meant to mutate and adapt in order to properly hold your quirk. It should have always been like this — strong, resilient, capable of regeneration, of channeling the shadows without tearing itself apart. That was the natural path your quirk intended for you from the very beginning."
Izuku's breath caught.
"But the presence of my power conflicted with it," Ashborn explained. "It forced your original quirk into dormancy during your earlier years of development. That interference stopped the natural process from happening at first."
The images in the air shifted, showing faint cracks and fractures — the strain Izuku had lived with for so long.
"However," Ashborn said, his tone softening slightly, "that change is now taking place. One For All is acting as a battery, providing the immense energy needed. And the state you are currently in, pushed to the very brink, your body broken and desperate to survive, has created the perfect opportunity for some rearranging."
Izuku's eyes widened as the meaning sank in.
"So… my body is finally fixing itself? Using everything that's happened?"
Ashborn gave a slow, solemn nod.
"Precisely. The black blood, the shadow manipulation, the fusion of One For All and my power, they are all working together to rewrite what was suppressed. You are becoming what you were always meant to be."
" Your black blood is essentially just condescended shadow energy mixed with blood. It follows your will as your shadows would, even if not consciously your heart and soul were screaming for something to save the girl so the blood that spilled into the wound went to work to keep her alive."
Ashborn's glowing purple eyes lingered on Izuku for a long moment, as if committing the boy's face to memory.
"My time here is done," Ashborn said at last, his deep voice carrying a note of finality. "My job is complete."
He slowly rose to his full, imposing height. The purple energy around him crackled softly as he turned and raised one massive hand. A swirling portal of dark violet light opened before him, its edges flickering with the same ancient power that defined the Shadow Monarch.
Ashborn began walking toward it, his footsteps heavy yet measured. He stopped right at the edge of the portal, the swirling energy casting shifting highlights across his dark form.
He looked back over his shoulder at Izuku.
"For what it is worth, Izuku," he said, voice warm with rare sincerity, "I believe that you would have made a worthy Shadow Monarch. But Jin-Woo is already where he needs to be and is just as worthy."
Ashborn paused, the glowing energy in his eyes softening.
"Even still… good luck, young one. May your life be filled with happiness and success."
With those final words, the Shadow Monarch stepped through the portal. The violet light flared once, bright and brilliant, then faded away completely, leaving only the multicolored glow of the One For All realm behind.
The space felt quieter without his presence.
Izuku stood there, staring at the spot where the portal had been.